A Learning Experience
by gawilliams
Summary: Bones talks to Booth after the second episode of season seven about the ultrasound and Finn.


_I was impressed with the episode the other day. Booth's reaction to not being there for the ultrasound was perfect, and Bones trying to understand was also well presented. The new intern is a character I hope we see a lot of in the near future. An impressed Bones? That needs to be explored. This one is later in the evening after Booth saw the ultrasound in Bones' office. I hope you enjoy it. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones rolled in an ungainly manner in the bed and found, to her annoyance, that her favorite pillow was missing. She had never thought that sleeping with Booth every night would be such an important part of her life, but she felt so comfortable and safe with his arms around her, or when she had her head on his chest, that she was very uncomfortable without him in the bed with her. They were at her apartment this night, and she wondered what he was doing. Slowly getting up, she made her way to her living room where she found him on the couch. The cabinet where she had her television and DVD player was open and she saw the ultrasound playing out on the screen. Smiling, she made her way over to him and sat down next to him.

"I rolled over and my pillow was gone," she teased him, adding a slightly petulant pout in for good measure. She was getting much better at moving away from her usual formal style of speech when she was alone with him in the comforts of home.

Booth felt bad about that as he placed his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in closer to him.

"Sorry, Bones," he told her. "I just had to see this again."

Bones watched the screen with him, her own mind taking in the incredible sight. She'd seen thousands of x-rays, CAT Scans, MRI's, and ultrasounds in her career, but the fact that this one was of a life inside of her filled her with a sense of awe. She'd spent time in the last couple of weeks working on referring to the fetus as a life, and a person, though she was still not sure of the accuracy of such labels.

"I really am sorry about not inviting you," she told him once more. "I hate not feeling like I can do things on my own. It's not you, Booth. It's me."

"I know, Bones," he told her as he continued watching the screen, totally in awe of what he was seeing. "But I missed out on all this when Rebecca was pregnant with Parker. This just brought back all those hurt feelings, and wondering if maybe this whole situation was too good to be true. Again."

"But you said once that relationships grow when mistakes are made and the two learn from them," she pointed out. "I didn't understand that then, but in the last few months I've begun to understand how true it is."

"I've made some mistakes, too, Bones," he reminded her. Her constant lectures about his overprotectiveness were proof of that. He was finally backing down from all but the most needed instances of that, and he could tell that it was appreciated, even if he did still get lectured on it.

"True, but you entered this relationship with excellent social skills, and a real sense of what a true relationship is. I've had to spend most of our time together learning what most people would consider obvious, and I'm still making mistakes," she told him.

"Speaking of...," Booth said, taking a deep breath and hoping he didn't end up a eunuch when all was said and done.

Bones turned her head away from the screen and looked at Booth. "Yes?" she asked.

"Caroline came to see me today about that new intern of yours," Booth said, mentally wincing when he saw her frown. "Now, Bones, I'm not about to try and tell you who your interns should be. But Caroline does have a point. In court it could get dicey if a defense attorney questions why a person with a criminal record had anything to do with evidence handling and chain of evidence. I wanted to get your opinion on the kid before I tell Caroline that she's barking up the wrong tree."

Bones did crack a smile when she recognized that colloquialism, but she got right down to business. "I do not appreciate _**anyone**_ attempting to tell me who is and is not qualified to do what we do in my lab," she told him firmly. "Mr. Abernathy is only 18 years old and yet is within two years of his doctorate in forensic anthropology. His analytical skills are brilliant, and I would trust him, provisionally, with doing field analyses for you when I am on maternity leave. Angela told me that his mathematical skills are on a par with a graduate student majoring in mathematics, along with the attending computer programming skills. Cam has informed me that his knowledge of the _**fleshy**_ parts she works with is equally impressive. Hodgins tells me that Mr. Abernathy is a kindred spirit and is more than ready to work with him on bugs and slime. Unless Caroline is able to show me, or the Jeffersonian, that that kind of talent is faked, then she has no say in my interns, and if she persists, I will sever all services from myself to the FBI and any law enforcement agencies."

Booth had to chuckle at the slightly disgusted look on her face when she mentioned the fleshy stuff. But he'd paid attention to what Bones had to say, and he'd never heard her praise an intern like that, not even Zack. He was about to say something when she interjected on more comment.

"He also likes John Wayne films," Bones threw in.

Booth laughed. He'd been shocked a long time before when he'd found out about her love of John Wayne films, and recently he'd been even more shocked when he'd opened the DVD cabinet at her place and found every John Wayne film currently on DVD in there. He'd discovered with a little looking that they'd been placed in the chronological order of when they'd originally been made.

"He's that good, huh?" he asked, serious again.

"He could be as good as I am within a few years, Booth," Bones told him, with equal seriousness. All her interns were brilliant, and the loss of Vincent had been a blow to the field in her honest opinion in addition to a blow to them all personally, but young Mr. Abernathy was something in another league altogether and she'd only known him such a short time. She wanted to see just how brilliant his mind was, and how far he could grow as a scientist under her mentoring.

Booth's brows raised nearly to his hairline. "Seriously?" he asked. Bones was the best, hands down, and her claims of being the best in the world were not idle boasts in his opinion.

"Seriously, Booth," she firmly reiterated. "Tell Caroline that if she persists in this, the consequences to the federal prosecutor's office will not be pleasant."

"Are you sure you shouldn't tell her yourself?" Booth asked, knowing the response he would get from Caroline. Caroline was one of the few people he did not like to tangle with at all.

"If I tell her I will simply get angry over her looking into a sealed court record on my intern and would likely lose my temper," she told him simply.

"I'll tell Caroline first thing in the morning," Booth assured her. An angry Cajun woman and a pissed off Bones would lead to no good at all. And it was likely that he would be caught in the middle of such a disaster.

"Now that we have all this dealt with, we have one more thing to take care of tonight," she told him, a smile on her face.

"What's left?" he asked.

"I want to have sexual intercourse," she informed him, letting a free hand trail up his thigh, halting just shy of the suddenly very evident bulge in his sweat pants.

"Don't ever change, Bones," Booth told her as she led him to the bedroom. Today had been a real learning experience for Booth. He'd learned the true miracle of having a child due to the ultrasound (though he had to admit he'd considered having a child a miracle when Parker was born), and he saw Bones actually admit to someone being as smart as she was. Their relationship was solid, and he was even more in love with her than he'd ever been. Not a learning experience, but a miracle.

_A/N: Just some tiny loose ends I thought could be tied together in a short piece. I hope you enjoyed it. Gregg. _

_A/N2: I am working on a new chapter for Pregnant? and it should be ready in a couple more days. Gregg._


End file.
